View full sizeFaith Cathcart/The OregonianGov. John Kitzhaber, shown last this month, addressed his Public Safety Commission on Monday. The commission is charged with coming up with reforms for the 2013 Legislature to rein in prison costs while protecting public safety.

Gov. John Kitzhaber Monday pressed for reform of
Oregon's public safety system to divert $600 million from prisons to families
and schools.

He said the state can't sustain ever-growing
spending on state prisons, which now hold 14,000 inmates in 14 prisons.

Instead, he said Monday, the state has to use new
and better ways to secure the public while holding criminals to account.

He said as a doctor he'd be accused of malpractice
for ignoring evidence of new ways to treat patients. The state, he said, would
be guilty of malfeasance if it ignored changes across the country making
justice systems more affordable and effective.

Forecasters say without changes, Oregon will
incarcerate an additional 2,000 inmates in the next 10 years, with most showing
up in the next three years. State Corrections Department officials say they
would have to open mothballed cells and build and operate new prisons at a cost
to taxpayers of $600 million over the next 10 years. Prison spending currently
takes nearly a dime out of every state general fund dollar.

Kitzhaber acknowledged the political pressures
confronting the commission, which includes legislators and representatives of
police, courts, and prosecutors.

"I know talking about public safety is difficult
and controversial," the governor said. He said those opposed to reforms "use
fear and emotion to drive public policy by anecdote."